p. 13 | ABOUT IRONING

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Oct 18, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 42.

ABOUT IRONING.

To iron, or not to iron, is a problem that vexes the soul of many housekeepers, and especially those who have been trained by careful, painstaking mothers to the maxim, "Always iron so that the clothes will look well on the bars."

It is hard for the careful housewife, brought up in the old-fashioned way, to adopt new and easier ways, but times and customs change, and we have to consider that in the rush and bother of this high-pressure age some customs must be set aside. . . . The careful and conscientious housewife needs to discriminate closely between the essentials and non-essentials of housekeeping and home-making.

When I first became a partial convert to the non-ironing system, it proved a wonderful salve to an accusing conscience when a friend told me of a noted physician who had given express orders that the sheets, pillow-slips, and undergarments of a patient under his care should never be ironed. He stated that the strengthening, health-giving properties of sunshine and fresh air were destroyed by the use of the hot iron.

A careful oversight of laundry work will soon convince the most painstaking housekeeper that much of the family washing may be made smooth, sweet, and clean without the wearisome labor of ironing. In the first place, all clothes should be hung evenly upon the line, and then pulled straight and smooth, those that are to be ironed, as well as those that are not, and it is better if they can be left out overnight, that they may get the benefit of the dew as well as the sun and air.

Those that must be ironed may be taken down while they are still damp, be folded smoothly, and laid in the basket ready for the iron, while the others may be left on the line till midday, when they will be thoroughly dry and ready to be put away. Sheets may be taken from the line, folded evenly, and piled on a table, a board and weight placed upon them, and they will look quite as well and be far sweeter and healthier than if ironed. Kitchen towels, dish towels, and many other small pieces, as well as all knit underwear and stockings, may be treated in the same manner. This will greatly lighten the labor of ironing day.

Table linen, napkins, and tray-cloths need to be well ironed, also pillow-slips, dresses, aprons, and all starched things. The busy housewife may be thankful that much starching is a thing of the past, as prints, ginghams, and other cotton goods should only be slightly stiffened, but if one must wear white skirts, one may starch them to her heart's content. An ironing-board, a lump of beeswax, and a dust of borax in the starch, make ironing comparatively easy.—Union Signal.